Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Short Cut Kare-Kare

Kare-Kare is one of those uniquely Filipino dishes. A rich stew of oxtail, ground rice, ground peanuts and vegetables, eaten with shrimp paste...it doesn't sound like much, but every special occasion back home would be incomplete without this family favorite.

Normally, when this dish is made, it takes almost a whole day. The meat needs to be boiled until tender, the rice needs to be toasted then ground, the peanuts need to be ground finely into a paste, etc, etc. In this busy world, having that much time to make a single dish would truly be a luxury. Thankfully, there are ready-mix packets of sauce that one could easily tweak. With a bit of adjusting here and there, a more than adequate kare-kare is mere minutes away.Short Cut Kare-Kare3 lbs. oxtail, cut into 2-inch pieces6 cups water1 onion, quartered2 cloves garlic, peeled1 tbsp. salt1 1/2 packs Mama Sita's Kare-Kare mix2 cups long beans/sitaw, cut into 2 inch pieces10-12 pcs. okra3 cups bok choy1 cup smooth/creamy peanut butter1/4 cup sugarfish sauce to taste

1. Boil oxtail in water with onion, garlic and salt until tender. I used a pressure cooker for 20 minutes. Set aside meat. Drain and skim fat from stock.2. In a bowl, mix 2 cups of stock with the kare-kare mix and peanut butter. Set aside3. In a heavy pot, simmer rest of stock and cook okra and long beans until almost tender.4. Add the kare-kare mix/peanut butter mixture and the meat.5. Add sugar and fish sauce to taste.6. Put in the bok choy last.7. Simmer for a few minutes until bok choy is done and sauce has thickened.8. Serve with bagoong/shrimp paste.

Other veggies that normally go into kare-kare include eggplants and banana hearts. Tripe and other internal organs can be used too. But my kids just like the oxtail, so oxtail it is.

4 comments:

Anonymous
said...

I always cooked kare-kare the " easy" way with peanut butter and toasted rice flour though I did skip the achuete bec I hated getting the stains under my fingernails. Instant orange manicure!Kare-kare = ultimate comfort food (2nd only to inihaw na liempo)

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I'm a doctor by profession, a mom by vocation, a cook by necessity and a wanna-be chef by ambition.
Feeding the 3 boys in my life is my joy and happiness. These are the stories of my culinary adventures...